Yet another gloriously sunny and hot day on the Thousand Sunny, much to Caesar's displeasure. It was unusually quiet however, the only occasional sounds coming from the lone Straw Hat left on the ship. Quiet, something that Caesar had almost forgotten existed since he boarded this damned ship. Straw Hats did nothing quietly, they couldn't even sleep quietly and Caesar had the bags under his eyes to prove it. Though, not a truly quiet day, this was far better a day than most.
Comfortably settled into his dark corner on deck, he watched his current guard fuss and tinker with the materials in front of him. Long Nose was probably one of the more interesting of the Straw Hats to Caesar, he seemed to try to use his head. Fighting with him had almost been fun, seeing the sniper's theories and countering them. It had nearly been a scientific debate, well as far as fights went. The sniper seemed to be spending this time to mix and prepare ammunition.
Caesar noted some of the fairly explosive liquids and powders scattered about the man. This was the wisest time to work with such materials, Caesar supposed, with the crew gone ashore to resupply. There would be no boisterous captain to bounce by and disturb the various explosive or toxic powders. No swordsman to to confuse the liquid bases for alcohol to be drunk. No red haired banshee to scream and issue demands of Long Nose as he made delicate volatile mixtures.
After some hours of observation, Caesar came to the conclusion that the marksman's talents mostly lay in material working. Tinkering with devices and shaping ammunition shells with a grace that Caesar had to begrudgingly respect. However, the sniper was simply barbaric when it came to chemistry. Caesar flinched whenever the Straw Hat sunk his oily and sweaty hand into the base powders, forever contaminating the batch. Shivered when the dark skinned pirate simply shook a beaker to mix a solution. Nearly groaned when he repeatedly recreated the same explosive formula as a base for each of his different ammunitions. This was like watching a child finger paint with the same two colors over and over again.
"Why are you ignoring the dragon gland ichor you have? It's superior to the king turtle venom if flame is what you're going for." Caesar couldn't help but smirk as the man nearly jumped out of his skin. Then violently flailed about to catch the beakers he had been holding. He didn't drop anything, to Caesar's dismay. Watching Long Nose accidentally set himself on fire would have been hilarious. It had been each time a new lab intern had gone up in flame back when he was with the Marine Science Core.
Carefully placing the beakers down and shooting Caesar a dirty look, the pirate picked up the beaker that Caesar had mentioned. The bright aqua liquid innocently gleamed in the sunlight. The sniper eyed the mentioned liquid and gas man warily. After what looked like a long and difficult internal debate on the Straw Hat's part he slowly and carefully responded.
"Because it's too volatile, I've had problems where it burst in my pouch when I've taken a fall or a hit." Caesar leaned forward with an arrogant smirk.
"I've been watching you coat the insides of the shells with a paste you made from mer scales as an insulator for your explosives. On your left you have Denga fruit nectar, it's expensive to use as an insulator, but if you add that to your mer scale paste, that should keep the dragon gland ichor from activating too soon." The dark skin man then regarded the tiny vial of viscous purple gel he had, his brow furrowed in deep thought.
"I… could do that, but isn't that not enough to keep the dragon gland ichor stable?" Caesar's happiness rose, the boy wasn't completely stupid.
"Shu-lu-lu-lu! You're right! Normally, with just that, the mixture would just explode after some time as the insulator deteriorated. But you've been using a high grade of king turtle venom and at large percentages too, have you ever wondered why it hasn't exploded on you yet? Of course you haven't, the clay you're making your capsules from is from Alabasta isn't it? That tint of white is a tell-tail trait. The clay from that region absorbs acidity you know, only very small amounts but enough to strengthen your insulator." The marksman looked a mix of insulted, surprised and intrigued.
"Ok, I see what your saying about the Denga fruit nectar, but what about this giant horsefly spit? I have more of it on hand, could I use that?" and with that Caesar and the boy began to discuss the sniper's collection of materials, their qualities and their possible combinations. It was gradual, but with each question and answer the Straw Hat and his station shifted closer to Caesar's dark corner, till eventually he was only five or so feet away from the shadowy boundary of the gas man's corner.
Soon the sniper gained enough confidence and began to try Caesar's suggestions. The pale man found himself crouched at the edge of his shadowy corner. Brimming with anticipation, as science always brought forth. He watched the man finish sealing the first bullet. The marksman then stood looking at the bullet. Caesar noted his pause and then saw the way he was warily looking at the new creation and then back at Caesar. He was most likely remembering to distrust Caesar. Then, Long Nose squared his shoulders and reached into his pouch, pulling out a small green slingshot and a stone. With slingshot in one hand and both stone and the new bullet in the other, Caesar wasn't sure what the sniper was going to do. Test the new shot on the captive? That would be a good test of the new bullet. Caesar himself understood the benefits of accurate testing quite well but, with his seastone shackles, he wouldn't weather the assault well. Caesar was suddenly regretting letting his love of science get the better of him. What was he thinking? Helping Long Nose make better bullets? Why not help the Cyborg make him a coffin while he was at it?
Caesar was suddenly sweating bullets as he watched the sniper facing him. The dark skinned pirate suddenly turned away, towards the open ocean. He raised his slingshot and slotted the stone. The stone flew with a quiet wail and the the sniper immediately fired the new bullet after the stone. The two collided in the air some yards off.
The resulting explosion nearly knocked the sniper off his feet and the wave of heat caused Caesar to shield his face. Caesar couldn't help but grin at the dumbfounded look on the Straw Hat's face. The following silence stretched out and the pale man basked in the stunned sniper's reaction.
"Well, what do you know. You're actually are smart." Caesar's mood instantly soured. No, his intellect would not be belittled. Chain him, fine. Torture him with sunlight and lies, fine. This… this however was going too far, he had paid far too much for his intelligence to let this slight slide.
"Correction, I am a scientific genius. I'll have you know. However, I shouldn't expect the weakest of the Straw Hats to know the difference!" Caesar yelled at the sniper and the Straw Hat looked taken aback by the sudden outburst. He recovered quickly though and shot back.
"I might be the weakest of the crew, but I was still the one that caught you! So that makes you weaker than me!" They glared at one another, the sniper standing in a wide stance looking down at the crouching Caesar. Caesar was the first to look away and slinked back to his corner. Human interaction and confrontations had never been his strong suit, besides Long Nose was right, he had been captured by the sniper. If it weren't for Long Nose, he wouldn't be stuck on this ship of lies.
Caesar made a point of ignoring the sniper. He sat with his back turned towards the pirate, it meant that he was practically facing a wall, but that was fine. Soon he heard the clinks of glass and the clanks of tools as the marksman returned to his work.
Time stretched on and Caesar was positively stewing in gloominess. The sniper's words had him looking back. Only a short time ago, he was the master of a massive lab. With two great powers funding his science, he had not been at want for funds and even had a small army of gullible and loyal minions. Now he was on this shining boat, shackled, powerless, cut off from feeding on air and a mere pawn. Alright, he had always been nothing more than a pawn in life but he had fought, worked, schemed and manipulated for all his worth to climb up to be a notable pawn. A pawn that was safe from simply being killed outright by the greater powers. A pawn that had resources and freedom to pursue his dreams, his science. Then the Straw Hats appeared, them with their flimsy smiles, and everything that he had spent his life attaining, was gone. All that work and sacrifice for nothing.
"O-Oi, uh, sorry. I didn't mean to call you dumb." The marksman's voice interrupted Caesar's thoughts. Caesar took a moment to look over his shoulder at the sniper. The man was looking down, hand anxiously rubbing the back of his neck. In front of the sniper sat several new rounds of bullets. Based on how empty the vial containing dragon gland ichor was, Caesar guessed that these were all using the recipe that he had just taught the Straw Hat. The pale man took a moment to send a pointed glare at the pirate and then returned to inspecting his wall.
Caesar heard some footsteps, a rustle of cloth and then a thump of something hitting the wood deck but the pale man was too upset to turn and look in the sniper's direction.
"I should have thanked you, rather than say something that wasn't very nice. The bullets you helped me make are alot stronger than my last batch of flaming stars. I'll be able to help and protect my friends better now, so thanks." Caesar's frown deepened. Lies, again. He helped the sniper gain a stronger attack, true, but to use it to protect and aid his 'friends'? Hah, no, the only reason to get stronger in life was to be able to better protect yourself.
Caesar's thoughts were rudely interrupted again by a massive explosion coming from the island. The shock waves rolled out, causing the ocean waves to intensify and make the Thousand Sunny merrily bob up and down. He heard the marksman chuckle.
"Well, I guess we'll be seeing the others soon and leaving this island in a hurry." Caesar heard movement behind him and looked over his shoulder again. He watched as the sniper got up from sitting near the shadow bound of his corner and hurried to collect his materials. Caesar continued to stare at the dark skinned man as he scurried about the deck. The sniper hadn't denied being called the weakest, yet when given a little more power, he was thinking of using it to help his more powerful 'friends' and not his status among the crew. Either the pirate was suicidal or was fairly confident that the ones he was defending wouldn't betray him. Caesar sneered. He dimly recalled days of fighting tooth and nail over scraps with the same urchins that he had been laughing with and called family only the day before. The Straw Hats would inevitably betray or abandon each other, he'd seen this before.
Caesar scowled and did his best to ignore the strange pangs in his chest as the sniper joyously greeted his comrades when their sprinting figures came into sight.
